Over 90% vote yes in referendum; Kravchuk elected president
of Ukraine

by Chrystyna LalpychakKiev Press Bureau

KIEV - "On the map of the world a new European state has emerged
- its name - Ukraine."

A special session of the Supreme Council of Ukraine opened with these
words by First Deputy Chairman Ivan Pliushch, as Leonid Kravchuk was sworn
in as the first popularly elected president of a united new independent
Ukrainian state, inaugurating a new era in the often tragic 1,000-year-old
history of the Ukrainian nation.

Four days after an overwhelming majority of Ukrainian citizens - 90.32
percent - voted "yes" in a December 1 referendum on independence
and elected him chief executive, President Kravchuk took his oath of office
to the people of Ukraine with his hand placed on two documents: Ukraine's
current Constitution and the Act of Declaration of the Independence of Ukraine:

"I solemnly swear to the people of Ukraine to realize my authority
as president, to strictly adhere to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine,
to respect and protect the rights and liberties of people and citizens,
to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine and to conscientiously fulfill my obligations,"
pledged the new president.

On a table next to him lay the over 500-year-old Peresopnytsky Gospel,
the first Bible in Old Ukrainian, "as a symbol of the continuity of
Ukrainian history," according to Deputy Ivan Zayets.

In the space above the chairman's podium, where a giant statute of Lenin
once stood, was a blue-and-yellow Ukrainian national flag.

During the solemn ceremonies, which featured a choir singing "Bozhe
Velykyi Yedynyi" and "Sche Ne Vmerla Ukraina" and an address
by the new president, the Ukrainian Parliament formally renounced Ukraine's
participation in the 1924 act creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The legislature issued a statement to the parliaments and peoples of
the world announcing its intentions and directions in foreign and domestic
policy, particularly in questions of international cooperation, human rights,
nuclear disarmament, respect for borders and economic reform.

President Kravchuk also outlined his vision of Ukraine's political, economic
and social direction as a fledgling European democracy, repeating the basic
principles in his campaign platform and responding to the concerns of many
foreign countries in an effort to win their recognition.

The results of the December 1 plebiscite also rendered invalid the results
of the March 17 all-union referendum on a renewed union, said Deputy Vitaliy
Boyko, chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, during the special
session. It also served as a vote of confidence in the existing Ukrainian
Supreme Council, said Mr. Pliushch.

Mr. Pliushch was elected chairman of the Ukrainian legislature by a vote
of 261 to 100 following the ceremonial part of the session.

International reaction to the results of the referendum and presidential
race dominated the days following December 1.

Poland and Canada were the first states to recognize Ukraine, on December
2. The next day, Hungary and Ukraine signed the first protocol establishing
full diplomatic relations and transforming the Hungarian consulate in Kiev
to the first foreign embassy here.

In a significant move, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a statement
on December 3 recognizing Ukraine's independence and expressing the need
for forging new interstate relations between the Russian federation and
Ukraine. Mr. Yeltsin had announced several times last week that if Ukraine
did not join the new political Union of Sovereign States neither would be
RSFSR.

President Kravchuk repeatedly stated over the last two weeks that Ukraine
would pursue relations with Russia and the other former Soviet republics
on a bilateral level as equal, independent states.

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were set to meet in Minsk
on December 7 to coordinate economic reform measures in the three former
Soviet republics.

During a press conference following his swearing-in ceremony, the silver-haired
president said that he would have no right to sign a union treaty that some
31 million people had rejected in last Sunday's vote for Ukrainian independence.

The Bush administration issued a restrained response early last week
welcoming the favorable referendum results and congratulating Mr. Kravchuk
on his election. The statement stopped short of formal recognition and reiterated
many of the previously stated U.S. requirements for recognition.

"The first Western leader to call Mr. Kravchuk after the referendum
was (U.S. President George) Bush," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Anatoliy Zlenko at a December 3 press conference.

In his telephone conversation with the American leader, as well as in
all of his public statements, Mr. Kravchuk has tried to reassure Western
leaders of Ukraine's willingness to address their concerns. These include
repayment of foreign debts, nuclear disarmament, adherence to international
agreements, respect of existing borders, harmonious relations with Russia
and the center, and the rights guarantees for national minorities in Ukraine.

By directly responding to U.S. requirements, "Ukrainian leaders
are only being realistic," said John Hewko, a Washington attorney and
adviser to Ukraine's legislature.

"They want to make their message loud and clear that they're for
these principles. They realize that Ukraine can't be a player in the world
unless the U.S. recognizes it. It is the only superpower and its opinion
is very important," he said.

"They feel that 'we've been waiting for hundreds of years, why blow
it?' It's not only that. It really is their position," said Mr. Hewko.

Thomas Niles, an assistant to U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, was
scheduled to arrive in Kiev on December 6 for discussions with Ukrainian
leaders. His trip will apparently serve as a preparation for an official
visit by Secretary Baker in mid-December.

Opposition leaders last week reacted with pride and interpreted the results
as a victory for their platform, despite the fact that their candidates,
led by Lviv Oblast Council Chairman Vyacheslav Chornovil, lost the presidential
race.

"I will have won these elections no matter what happens, even if
I don't become president. The pre-election campaign gave me the opportunity
to travel all over Ukraine, to meet the people and to politicize the east,"
said a smiling Mr. Chornovil moments after he voted at a Lviv polling station
last Sunday.

"Kravchuk may have won, but so did our program," said Rukh
Chairman and Deputy Ivan Drach on Monday, "Kravchuk's program was taken
from the programs of Rukh, the Democratic Party and the Ukrainian Republican
Party," he said.

"Throughout the democratic world, despite intensive campaign battles,
once a president is chosen the people rally around him," said another
Rukh leader, Mykhailo Horyn.

"It is our task as an opposition to create an environment that allows
the new president to lead in statebuilding," he said last week. "It
is our task to diligently supervise so that the president indeed builds
an independent Ukraine."

Even before the results started coming in, Ukrainians and the many visitors
who observed the elections began celebrating Ukraine's independence with
parties in restaurants and private homes on Sunday night.

Most of the 100 international observers who traveled throughout Ukraine
to monitor the voting concluded that the process was democratic and that
no deliberate violations occurred in their presence.

Among them were 23 Americans, including 12 official observers from the
U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the U.S. Consulate in Kiev, the State Department,
the Helsinki Commission and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who
monitored polling stations in Kiev, Kaniv, Odessa, the Crimea, Kharkiv,
Lviv and Chernivtsi.

Also among the observers were five Canadian members of Parliament, seven
MPs from the Europarliament and one deputy from Germany's Bundestag.

"We congratulate you on your excellent results," said Gert
Weisskirchen, the German deputy, at a December 3 press conference. "With
such results all national minority groups in Ukraine said 'yes.' We have
seen the peaceful birth of a state, and this referendum is the basis for
the peaceful future of your nation," he said.

Ukraine's vote for freedom

This chart illustrates the percentage of Ukraine's citizens who voted
for independence in the referendum on Sunday, December 1. The percentages
are listed by the 27 administrative districts in Ukraine: 24 oblasts, one
autonomous republic and two cities. Results for the cities of Kiev and Sevastopil
are given separately in the bottom corner. These official results are received
from the Central Electoral Commission on Wednesday, December 3.